Sphinx
by Yuugi-chan
Summary: After inadvertently encountering Itachi on a seduction assisination mission, Sakura finds herself in a position that might put her six feet under if she is not careful.  ItachixSakura


**Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to its rightful creator, Masashi Kishmoto, and all other companies that have decided to endorse it. No profit is being made from this story nor is it advocating for any of the companies that hold the copyrights to the series.**

**Dedicated to Eru-777, who made me spread my wings—allowing my creativity to soar.**

_The room was dark, bare, and consisted of a cold atmosphere. Some missions, I had thought, were not worth risking your life—among other things—for. This was one of those times. Of course, back then, I had no idea of the complications I was going to have to face._

_It should have been easy. Seduce the daimyo bearing property in the Village Hidden in the Clouds, siphon off information when he became intoxicated, dispose of him afterwards, and, of course, avoid sexual intercourse if at all possible. After all, that was supposed to be an area kunoichi specialized in, right? Well, yes, but watching a geisha and actually being one are two completely different things. One's a hell of a lot harder._

_I swore my hands were shaking when I went to pour the tea. Sure, this daimyo was surprisingly cultured compared to the other ones I had had to assassinate in the past, as he was quite knowledgeable in subjects such as political happenings outside of the village, poetry, and surprisingly, new medical theories that had just been proposed. I couldn't help but wonder, though, why the voice sounded a tad bit familiar, though I managed to shove that thought off to the side. But now, actually trying to accomplish the seduction, the man was unresponsive—he just sat there unmoving, head bowed, and deathly silent._

_The cup was clinking against the table as I poised the teapot above it, silently pleading that I wouldn't miss and spill hot tea on the table and the target that I was _supposed_ to be successfully seducing. Then suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, his hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, pulling me up with him, my back against his chest, the teapot smashing to the ground after I dropped it in surprise._

_I wondered, if only briefly, if the daimyo was going to have his way with me by force and forego the seduction stage altogether, until I felt the kiss of cold steel against my throat._

_"Kunoichi of Konoha," he began, his voice just a hiss in my ear, "what are you trying to accomplish?"_

_Uh-oh. Busted._

_"Konoichi? How could you mistake me for one? I am naught but a humble geisha, my lord," I said, mentally thanking God that my voice was even. "Also, where is Konoha, my lord? I have heard of the land, but have yet to set eyes upon it. I haven't set foot out of this village since I was a small child."_

_"Do you think me a fool, Kunoichi?" said the daimyo, his voice even softer but promising painful punishments if I did not cooperate. "We were hired to protect the daimyo of this pathetic village for quite a hefty sum. Apparently, it appears that your intelligence division has a small leak."_

_"I am sorry, my lord, but I do not know what you speak of. Knowledge of the outside world is very limited when one lives their life as a geisha."_

_He spun me around roughly to face him, kunai still threatening me with its sharp point._

_"Look me in the eyes and see if you can say that little lie again, Kunoichi."_

_Oh shit. God could have just killed me right on the spot then and there for all the good that would do. After all, I knew my fate had already been sealed when bright red eyes froze the voice ready to come out of my throat, which leads me to the predicament I am in now._

_This was no daimyo I was looking at. Oh no, this was much, much worse. I had just found myself on the receiving end of the glare only _he_ could give…_

_Uchiha Itachi._

---

Everything was deathly silent, all my courage suddenly drained out of me and, more likely than not, the blood underneath my skin. I don't doubt at all now that if my blood ceased flowing altogether—frozen into a raw river of carnage from right within my veins.

He was right, of course. No matter how hard I tried to, I could not manage to get those words of untruth out from the recesses of my throat, even though I had planned them long in advance if a situation such as this arose. I just didn't count on having Uchiha Itachi thrown into the picture, and I certainly didn't expect he'd be the one I'd be seducing on this mission. I'll never be able to live this one down.

His grip on me loosened, but the kunai still remained poised at my throat, threatening.

"If you are going to lie convincingly, you have to learn to accept the truth yourself first, Kunoichi," he said, walking a slow circle around me, his eyes never wavering. "You knew from the first moment I spoke that you had reason to be suspicious, and yet you still decided to ignore your instincts, dismissing it as some little fantasy of yours, and I didn't even try to use dojustu on your mind. To become a successful ninja, you need to let go of your naivety first. I still find it a wonder why Konoha sent out their best medic-nin to dispatch an assassination. Definitely not the smartest decision the Rokudaime has made. Then again, that boy never really was the bright one, was he?"

"Don't insult Naruto, you evil bastard. Compared to your leader, he has more common sense than your superior ever will," I spat, rage bubbling up inside me.

Even though I knew giving Uchiha Itachi back-talk was never a good idea, I wasn't too terribly worried about my life ending so quick. I'd run into him before when we went to retrieve Sasuke three years ago, and even though a scuffle did ensue, it didn't go anything beyond that as the missing-nin had fled the battlefield. Despite his reputation, Uchiha Itachi was one of the more docile members of the Akatsuki Organization, preferring to avoid getting involved in battles than actually causing one.

"Don't you dare speak of our leader in that manner! You know nothing of him!" he snarled, showing a rare display of any kind of emotion.

Apparently, the subject of his superior was a rather touchy one for him. If anything, I had to admit that he held a good amount of loyalty towards the organization he decided to tie himself to.

"Bullshit!" I retort. "All you Akatsuki are the same, following the orders of a leader who doesn't know when he's beaten, even when it jumps up and bites him in the ass!"

I never did know when to keep my mouth shut.

Itachi halted in his circular inspection of me and grabbed me by the throat, cutting off my air supply, and I was quite sure bruises were going to be there the next day. That is…if I managed to live that long.

"Care to run that by me again, Kunoichi?" he hissed. "I gave you fair warning in advance, and yet you still have the nerve to blatantly ignore it. Insult me all you want; I don't really care, but you will never _ever_ so dishonorably degrade our leader in such a way. _Think _before you act! You might be able to live longer if you do so. You call yourself a ninja, and yet you don't even know how to act as one. Konoha's standards have lowered."

"Go to hell, you fucking bastard," I manage to choke out from in between his stranglehold.

"I'm sorry, but I can't quite do that just yet. I still have other things to attend to. I'd kill you here, but unfortunately, our leader must approve the killing of our victim first. He doesn't approve of unnecessary bloodshed. It'd attract too much attention to us, you see, and we certainly don't want that now, do we?"

Even as my world went fuzzy due to the lack of oxygen, I knew that my death was unavoidable.

To put it simply, I was screwed.

**Author's Note: Yes, here is the promised Itachi/Sakura fic I said I would do (even though it is rather much delayed). I'm trying to make the plot of this story different from the usual cliché ones I normally see, and I hope I'm succeeding.**

**Constructive criticism is much appreciated, especially in terms of characterization. )**


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